Rob Holland
The General
Election
An election is when people choose who should be in charge of something. This could be in charge of a group, an area, or the country. People choose by voting. The person with the most votes wins.
and Brexit has been the main show in Parliament this year, but we have still managed to make some good progress on benefits, apprenticeship and housing!
Personal Independence Payments (PIP)
PIP is a new benefit which is gradually replacing
Disability Living Allowance
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is the name of a benefit that some people with a disability get. The money is to pay for extra help you might need to look after yourself and to get around. Disability Living Allowance is being replaced by a benefit called
Personal Independence Payment
Personal
Independence
Independence means doing things on your own. Making your own choices.
Payment (PIP) is the name of a benefit that some people with a disability or health condition get. The money is to pay for extra help you might need to look after yourself and to get around. Some people who used to get Disability Living Allowance (DLA) now get PIP instead.
(PIP).
. Many people with a learning disability this year have been through an
assessment
An assessment is a way of finding out what help a person needs. When you have an assessment, you might have to go to a meeting or fill in a form.
for PIP and have told us that they had a bad
experience
Experience is when you have learned or tried something before.
.
We supported the Disability Benefits Consortium with an e-action, calling for the Government to #GetAGripOnPIP.
Your support meant the Work and Pensions Parliamentary Committee launched an inquiry and in December the Government announced that it would be making some improvements to the assessment process.
Not fixed, but we're making progress with your help!
If you have any questions about PIP please visit our webpages on Benefits for people with a learning disability.
General Election
Just when we thought we were done on the voting front, along came another Election in June!
We clubbed together with other charities to hold a Disability Hustings style Q&A in London in the lead up to the election, which more than 200 disabled people attended!
We also produced an
easy read
Easy Read is a way of making written information easier to understand. Pictures are usually added next to the writing.
guide to voting and got the major political parties to produce their manifestos in Easy Read, too.
Take a look and find out more on our election webpages.
Breaking down the barriers to work and Apprenticeships
In September the Government changed the law to make Apprenticeships more flexible for people with a learning disability who struggle with English and maths.
This is great news as we've been lobbying on this for ages. We're starting to take on the first Apprentices with a learning disability here at Mencap, which is super exciting.
We also help our Disability Week Parliamentary reception, where over 40 MPs joined our call to break down the barriers to work!
Win on supported housing!
We have been campaigning to stop the Government cutting back on housing benefit available to people with a learning disability living in supported housing.
Alongside our lobbying, we supported Tessa Bolt to give evidence at a Parliamentary Select Committee. Tessa lives in supported housing and has Down's syndrome.
She did an amazing job describing to MPs why supported housing helps her to live independently and why it's important to make sure there is enough money. Tessa is the first person with Down's syndrome to give evidence at a Select Committee, and was featured in The Independent and her local radio news!
In October, the
Prime Minister
The Prime Minister is the leader of the government.
announced that the Government would not continue with its plans to cut housing benefit for supported housing, no doubt in part due to our influencing efforts, but also the amazing job Tessa did!
Find out more
If you'd like to find out more about the work we do in Parliament please take a look at our webpages here.